CLEVELAND — *EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video is from November of 2020.
Those hoping to take in a night of classical music are unfortunately out of luck.
The Cleveland Orchestra has canceled both of Sunday's holiday concerts (2:30 and 7:30 p.m.) at Severance Hall due to a positive COVID-19 case among its ensemble. It's just the latest event in the area to either be postponed or scrapped altogether by the latest coronavirus surge.
In a statement, the orchestra expressed its "regrets" for the cancellation and noted the decision was made "in accordance with our COVID protocols developed in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic to protect our musicians, staff, volunteers, and audience members." These had been the last scheduled performances for the group's series of 12 holiday concerts, which had to be shelved entirely last winter due to the pandemic.
Just in the last week, Northeast Ohio schools, sports teams, and other gatherings have had to grapple with a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases thanks to the delta and omicron variants. Local hospitals are also feeling the pinch, with more than a quarter of the state's ICU beds now occupied by (mostly unvaccinated) virus patients.
Those who had tickets to either of today's shows can get a refund by filling out a response form that will be sent to their email addresses or exchange them for tickets to a future show by going to clevelandorchestra.com or calling (216) 231-1111. The orchestra's ticket office is open until 7:30 p.m. Sunday.